Two new franchises are set to join the WNBA for the 2026 season, and the Connecticut Sun lost a pair of players to the Toronto Tempo in the expansion draft held Friday.
Each expansion team was allowed to selecte one unrestricted free agent in the draft, and the Tempo chose Marina Mabrey, the star Sun guard. Mabrey was Connecticut’s second-leading scorer in 2025, averaging 14.4 points plus 4.2 rebounds and four assists per game. She appeared in 35 games, missing nine in the middle of the season due to a knee injury. Mabrey also competed in Unrivaled during the offseason, and she led the 3-on-3 league in scoring averaging 25.3 points on 43.4% shooting from the field.
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As an unrestricted free agent, Mabrey is not required to sign with the Tempo, but they are the only franchise that can offer her a supermax contract. Other teams are still allowed to negotiate with the veteran.
Toronto also drafted Nikolina Milic from Connecticut in the second round of the expansion draft. The Sun acquired Milic’s rights in 2025 as part of a trade with the Chicago Sky, but Milic did not play in the WNBA last season and never appeared in a game for the Sun. The Serbian center played in 70 games over two seasons with the Minnesota Lynx from 2022-23.
The Portland Fire did not select any Sun players, but former UConn point guard Nika Muhl was chosen from the Seattle Storm. Muhl will miss the 2026 WNBA season after suffering a right ACL tear while playing for Croatia in Eurobasket Qualifiers last month. Muhl also sat out of the 2025 season due to a left ACL tear sustained with her overseas club in Turkey, but she appeared in 16 games during her rookie season with the Storm in 2024.
The Sun have five players currently under contract for the 2026 season, all of whom are on rookie deals: Forward Aaliyah Edwards, guard Leila Lacan, center Rayah Marshall, forward Aneesah Morrow and guard Saniya Rivers. Center Olivia Nelson-Ododa is also a restricted free agent entering her fifth season in the league.
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This is the second year in a row the WNBA has held an expansion draft after adding the Golden State Valkyries to the league in 2025. The Valkyries selected guard Veronica Burton from the Sun in their expansion draft, and Burton went on to average career numbers in nearly every category during Golden State’s inaugural season. She was the WNBA’s 2025 Most Improved Player and was named to the All-Defensive second team.
The WNBA is set to add three more expansion franchises before 2030. A Cleveland team will join the league in 2027 followed by Detroit in 2028 and Philadelphia in 2029.
